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A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND
To the
RIGHT REVEREND
WILLIAM LEONARD WILLIAMS,
sometime Bishop of Waiapu.
THIS BOOK
is respectfully dedicated in memory of
the eminent services rendered to the New Zealand Church
by himself and others of his name.
[Illustration: REV. SAMUEL MARSDEN.]
A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND
by
H. T. PURCHAS, M.A.
Vicar of Glenmark, N.Z.
Canon of Christchurch Cathedral, and Examining
Chaplain to the Bishop.
Author of
"Bishop Harper and the Canterbury Settlement,"
"Johannine Problems and Modern Needs."
Simpson & Williams Limited
Christchurch, N.Z.
G. Robertson & Co. Propy. Ltd., Melbourne.
Sampson Low & Co. Ltd., London.
1914
* * * * *
_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_
Bishop Harper and the Canterbury Settlement.
_PRESS NOTICES_
Original Edition.
"We are glad to welcome this book. It has been very well written; it is
interesting throughout; one's attention never flags; it is exactly what
was wanted by churchmen, and should be on the book-shelf of every
churchman in at least this Colony.... We simply advise every one of our
readers to buy it and read it, and let their boys and girls read it
too."
_Auckland Church Gazette._
"One reads it as eagerly as though it were a novel."
_N. Z. Guardian_ (Dunedin).
"Just the book to present to any young clergyman who wishes to have the
life of an ideal pastor before him."
_Nelson Diocesan Gazette._
"A valuable addition to our growing library of historical literature."
_Lyttelton Times._
"In many respects the book is a model biography."
_Evening Post_ (Wellington).
"A very valuable contribution to the early history of New Zealand....
Throws considerable light on the pioneering days in Canterbury."
_The Outlook._
REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION
"To some extent re-written.... The additions considerably exceed the
omissions.... Generally, in all respects in which the book is fuller it
may be said to be more full of interest."
_Guardian_ (England).
Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd. - Publishers
* * * * *
PREFACE.
If asked why I took in hand a task of such difficulty and delicacy as
that of writing a History of the Church in our Dominion, I can really
find no more truthful answer than that of the schoolboy, "Please, Sir, I
couldn't help it." From boyhood's days in the old country, when a copy
of the Life of Marsden fell into my hands, I felt drawn to the subject;
the reading of Selwyn's biography strengthened the attraction; the
urging of friends in later years combined with my own inclinations; and
thus the work was well on its way when the General Synod of 1913
committed it to my hands as a definite duty.
For the last quarter of a century the Church of this Dominion has indeed
possessed a history by my honoured teacher, Dean Jacobs. That scholarly
volume could hardly be bettered on the constitutional side. In this
department the Dean wrote as one who had taken no mean part in the
events which he describes. His ecclesiastical learning and his judicial
temper rendered him admirably qualified for the task. In working over
the same ground I have perhaps been able to point out a few facts which
he had missed or ignored, but on the whole I have left this part of the
field to him. This is not a constitutional history: it seeks rather to
depict the general life of the Church, and the ideals which guided its
leading figures.
The Dean's description of the missionary period is also an admirable
piece of work, but he had not the advantage of the stores of material
which are now available. Through the indefatigable enthusiasm of the
late Dr. Hocken the journals of the early missionaries have been brought
to this country, and are made available to the student. His
comprehensive collection enables us to come into close touch with days
which are already far distant from our own. Of course the historian must
be guided by the principle, _summa sequi fastigia rerum_; but he cannot
estimate aright the work of the heroic leaders and rulers of the Church
unless he can follow the thoughts and careers of the less conspicuous
agents--the humble missionary or catechist, the native convert or
thinker.
In acknowledging my obligations to the late Dr. Hocken, I would wish to
express my gratitude to the authorities of the Dunedin Museum, where his
library is kept; and also to my friend Archdeacon Woodthorpe, who kindly
placed at my service the unpublished volume in which Dr. Hocken's
researches into the life of Marsden are contained. For permission to
consult the Godley correspondence in the Christchurch Museum I have to
thank the Board of Governors of Canterbury College; and for the loan of
a rare and valuable pamphlet on the death of the Rev. C. S. Volkner I am
greatly indebted to Mr. Alexander Turnbull, of Wellington. Archdeacon
Fancourt, of the same city, has afforded me generous help in recovering
some of the early history of the diocese he has so long served; while,
in Auckland, the Rev. J. King Davis--a descendant of the two
missionaries whose names he bears--has enabled me to identify the
positions of some long forgotten _pas_, and has furnished valuable
information on other points. Other correspondents, from the Bay of
Islands to Otago, have assisted generously with their local knowledge.
Outside of New Zealand I have to acknowledge help from Mrs. Hobhouse, of
Wells, and the Ven. Archdeacon Hobhouse, of Birmingham, the widow and
son of the first Bishop of Nelson.
Many clergy have kindly acceded to my application for photographs of
their churches. A fair number of these I have been able to use, and to
all the senders I desire to express my thanks. For the view of the
ruined church at Tamaki I am indebted to Miss Brookfield, of Auckland,
and for the excellent representation of the scene at the signing of the
Treaty of Waitangi to Mr. A. F. McDonnell, of Dunedin. In the
preparation of the MS. for the press I have been greatly assisted by the
Rev. H. East, Vicar of Leithfield.
But the greatest help of all remains to be told. To the aged and
venerable Bishop Leonard Williams this book owes more than I can
estimate. Not only has he furnished me with abundant information from
the stores of his own unique and first-hand knowledge, but, on many
points, he has engaged in fresh and laborious research. Every chapter
has been sent to him as soon as written, and has benefited immensely by
his careful and judicial criticism. Without this thorough testing my
book would be far more imperfect than it is.
It is due, however, to the bishop, as well as to my readers, to state
emphatically that he is in no way responsible for the views expressed in
this book. There are, in fact, a few points on which we do not quite
agree. The intricacies of high policy or of mingled motive will never
appeal in exactly the same way to different minds. My aim throughout has
been to arrive at the simple truth, and I have often been driven to
abandon long-cherished ideas by its imperative demand.
In the spelling of Maori names Bishop Williams' authority has always
been followed except when a place is looked at from the pakeha or
colonial point of view. Then it is spelt in the colonial manner. Readers
may be glad to be warned against confusing Turanga (Poverty Bay) with
Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty. Similarly, it may be well to call
attention to the wide difference between Tamihana Te Waharoa and
Tamihana Te Rauparaha. Both were notable men, but their characters were
not alike, and they took opposite sides in the great war.
The scope of this book has not permitted me to trace the history of the
Melanesian Mission, nor to deal with the island dependencies of our
Dominion. Even within the limits of New Zealand itself the treatment of
the later period may perhaps seem inadequate. But the events of the
years 1850-1890 have been already covered to some extent in my book,
"Bishop Harper and the Canterbury Settlement," while for the latest
stage of all I have the pleasure of appending to this preface a valuable
letter from the present Primate, whose high office and long experience
enable him to speak with unique authority upon the life of the Church of
to-day.
H. T. P.
Glenmark Vicarage, Canterbury, N.Z.,
March, 1914.
LETTER FROM THE MOST REVEREND THE PRIMATE.
Dear Canon Purchas--
In consideration of my long career as a church-worker in New Zealand,
you have honoured me with a request to add to your forthcoming volume of
the History of the Church here a short account of my impressions as to
her life and progress since 1871, and also my ideas as to her prospects
and the chief tasks which lie before her.
I think the most convenient form in which I could attempt to supply the
need would be by addressing a letter to you embracing these topics,
which letter, should you esteem it worthy, could be printed with your
Preface.
In turning, then, to your first question, I have to premise that the
life and progress of any institution are very largely affected by
attendant circumstances and surroundings for which perhaps the leaders
of the institution itself are not responsible. Thus, with reference to
our Provincial Church at the period you mention, she was weakened by the
loss of not a few of those upon whom she had leaned for counsel and
stimulating influence. Bishops Hobhouse and Abraham, Sir William Martin
and Mr. Swainson, besides other prominent churchmen, such as Sir George
Arney, and others less known, speedily followed their great leader,
Bishop Selwyn, to England, or were removed by other causes. Without any
surrender to the weakness of a mere _laudator temporis acti_, I look
back to the time of my arrival in New Zealand with a feeling that there
were giants in the earth in those days. Many whom we have more recently
lost were also with us then--men like Messrs. Acland and Hanmer and
Maude and Sewell, Col. Haultain, Mr. Hunter-Brown, and, of course,
Bishop Hadfield and Dean Jacobs. Many of these were men of marked
ability, men who made the synod halls ring with their forcible
utterances, men full of knowledge of the Church and love for her, full
of self-sacrificing spirit and determination to make her a praise in
the faithful guardian of our Church's influence, Primate Harper. The
loss of such fathers of the Church has been felt in the interval under
review, and could not but affect the life and progress of the Church. It
is not for me to say anything of those by whom their places have been
filled.
Another adverse circumstance which must be called to mind in such a
review is the long period of commercial depression which followed a
short period of fictitious prosperity and inflated values. Misled by the
apparently fair prospect of making money rapidly--of which prospect a
shoal of interested persons sprang up to make the most--undertakings
were entered upon on borrowed capital and properties were bought at
prices which could not be realised upon them perhaps twenty years
afterwards. The consequence of all this was a widespread desolation. My
diocesan visitations were in those days largely made on horseback, and
in a journey of perhaps many hundred miles I had to look upon stations
and homesteads at which I had formerly been hospitably received, whether
their owners belonged to our communion or not, either closed altogether
or left in charge of a shepherd.
Many of the proprietors of these sheep stations had been liberal
supporters of the Church, and their ruin spelt disaster to the
authorities of the nearest clerical charge, if not also the weakness of
diocesan institutions. During those long, long years, diocesan
management was a weariness indeed, and not the less so because it was so
hard to keep up the courage even of our church-workers themselves. I am
thankful to say that no organised charge within my own diocese was
closed in that period, but it was manifestly impossible to subdivide
districts and so to introduce additional clergy. Little else could be
thought of than holding on.
By these circumstances, then, the life of the Church was affected and
her progress hindered. New conditions were developed, and the rulers of
the Church had to accept and provide for these new conditions. I am far
from saying that the large displacement of the pastoral industry by the
agricultural was a misfortune either to the country or the Church: as
regards the latter, the large increase of the population upon the land
has given the Church more scope for the exercise of her ministerial
activities; but for vestries and church committees the work is harder,
demanding, as it does, so much closer attention to details. In the old
days one man might ride round the eight or ten stations within a
district, and by collecting L10 to L20 from each would thus easily raise
a large part of the stipend of the clergyman, and at the same time enjoy
a pleasant visit to his friends. The collecting from a large number of
scattered persons is a different matter, and means many workers and much
patience. It is not unnatural, therefore, that this outlying work is
avoided, and that the church officials rely too much upon the residents
in towns and villages. This is a danger of the present, and needs close
attention. A vestry easily becomes content so soon as in one way or
another it has got together enough money wherewith to discharge its
obligations; but there can be no free and elastic expansion unless the
interest of all her members is enlisted by the Church, and each is
willing to do his part in the establishment of the kingdom of Christ.
I think the progress of the Church of late years has been satisfactory.
We have a body of clergy who, in devotion to their work and ability for
the performance of it, need not fear comparison with those of other
countries, not excluding the average of the English clergy themselves;
and I think it high time that that insulting enactment known as the
"Colonial Clergy Act" was rescinded. It is an unworthy bar to full
inter-communion between areas of the Church which profess to be at one.
As to our lay people I can only say that I often stand amazed at the
willing and patient sacrifice they make of time and effort in the
management of church affairs in synods, on vestries, and committees of
every kind for the promotion of her work.
As to the future, the great task of the Church is, to my mind, the
instruction both of the young clergy and the young laity as to the
Divine Commission and real nature of the Church. Since union through the
truth is the only method authorised by Holy Scripture, we must teach and
teach and teach. That is the task of our divinity schools and of the
clergy in preparing their candidates for confirmation: line upon line
and precept upon precept, definite and clear instruction should be given
so that the future heads of families may know and value their
privileges, and the whole population will be impressed by the strength
of our convictions.
I am afraid I have allowed my pen to run beyond the limits you had in
view, but you must do what you think well with this letter, and believe
me to remain,
Faithfully yours,
S. T. DUNEDIN, Primate.
Bishopsgrove, January, 1914.
The Keystone Printing Co.,
552-4 Lonsdale Street, Melb.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
Slow progress of Christianity towards Antipodes--Moslem barrier--
Effect of the Renaissance--Europeans south of the barrier--Dutch in
East Indies--Tasman's discovery of New Zealand--"Three Kings Island"--
Cook's visit--Convict settlement at Port Jackson--Conclusions.
FIRST PERIOD.
CHAPTER I.
THE PREPARATION (1805-1813).
The Bay of Islands--Te Pahi--His visit to New South Wales--Meeting
with Marsden--Te Pahi's return and death--Ruatara--His arrival in
England--Marsden at Home--The Church Missionary Society--Its plans for
New Zealand Mission--Hall and King--Marsden meets Ruatara on _Active_
--_Boyd_ massacre--Delay--Ruatara's return to New Zealand--The years
of waiting.
CHAPTER II.
THE ENTERPRISE (1813-1815).
Conditions more favourable--Preliminary voyage of _Active_--"Noah's
Ark"--Arrival of mission in New Zealand--Interview with Whangaroans--
"Rangihoo"--Landing of Marsden, &c.--Preparation for service--
Christmas Day, 1814--Marsden's narrative--Planting of settlement--
Gathering timber--Ruatara's illness and death--His work.
CHAPTER III.
THE RECEPTION (1815-1822).
Position of settlers--Hall at Waitangi--Communistic experiment--
Difficulty with Kendall--The mission in trouble--Visit of Rev.
S. Leigh--Renewed zeal--Second visit of Marsden--Foundation of
Kerikeri station--Marsden's third visit--Hongi and Kendall leave for
England--Reception by King George IV--Marsden's journeys in New
Zealand--Hinaki of Mokoia--Return of Hongi and Kendall--Change in
Hongi--Siege of Mokoia--Devastation of Thames district--Miserable
plight of missionaries--Closing of seminary at Parramatta.
CHAPTER IV.
THE NEW BEGINNING (1823-1830).
Need of the mission--Arrival of Rev. H. Williams--His character--
Settlement at Paihia--New workers--Difficulties in farming--Richard
Davis--Building of the _Herald_--Schools--Flight of Wesleyans
from Whangaroa--Death of Hongi--Peace-making--The "Girls' War"--
Conversions--Taiwhanga--Baptisms--Effectiveness of schools--
Evidences of progress.
CHAPTER V.
THE FORWARD MOVE (1831-1837).
Exploration--Expedition to Kaitaia--Station formed--Cape Reinga--
Expedition to Thames--Evening service--Surprising reception--Visit to
Te Waharoa--Station at Puriri--Visit to Waikato--Station at Mangapouri
--Tauranga--Rotorua--The Rotorua-Thames war--Looting of Ohinemutu
station--Flight from Matamata--Mrs. Chapman's bonnet--Withdrawal of
missionaries--Ngakuku and Tarore--Marsden's last visit--Progress in
the north--Departure of Marsden--Estimate of his work and character.
CHAPTER VI.
YEARS OF THE RIGHT HAND (1838-1840).
Re-occupation of Rotorua and Tauranga--Visit to Opotiki--Station there
--Maunsell at Waikato Heads--Visit of Bishop Broughton--Influenza--
Octavius Hadfield--The east coast--Taumatakura--W. Williams moves to
Poverty Bay--Ripahau at Cook Strait--Rauparaha--Tamihana learns from
Ripahau--Tamihana and Te Whiwhi come to Bay of Islands--Hadfield
offers to return with them--H. Williams and Hadfield visit Port
Nicholson--Kapiti--Work of Ripahau--Peace-making--Williams at
Whanganui--Ascends the river--Village bells--March to Taupo--Tauranga
--Wairarapa--The instructions of Karepa.
CHAPTER VII.
RETROSPECT (1814-1841).
Arrival of Hobson--Treaty of Waitangi--Opposition of New Zealand
Company--The work of the missionaries--Absence of authority--Kendall
the Gnostic--The new workers--Bible translation--Simplicity in worship
--And in life--Buying of land--Motives tested by selection of Auckland
--Darwin's verdict--Missionaries and Methodists--Friendly relations--
Disagreement on West Coast--Arrival of Roman mission--Hardships--
Koinaki's taua--Causes of rapid spread of Christianity among Maoris--
Gifts of civilisation--Religiousness of Maori nature--Letters of
converts--The old heart--Marvellous memory--Hopes for the future.
SECOND PERIOD.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE NEW ORDER (1839-1842).
Arrival of immigrants--Principles of the New Zealand Company--
Opposition of the C.M.S.--Henry Williams and the Wellington settlers--
Arrival of Bishop Selwyn--His ideals--His choice of Waimate--Condition
of the country--Bishop's first tour--Nelson--Wellington--Whanganui--
New Plymouth--Journey across the island--Waiapu--Bay of Plenty--
Waikato--Return to Waimate.
CHAPTER IX.
ADJUSTMENT (1843-1844).
Bishop Selwyn's ecclesiastical position--Religious divisions--
Formation of St. John's College--Death of Whytehead--Communism in
practice--A lesson to the world--Ordinations--Bishop's second tour--
White Terraces--Whanganui River--Wairau tragedy--Hadfield and Wiremu
Kingi save Wellington--Tamihana Te Rauparaha--His mission to the south
--Bishop's visit to Canterbury--Otago--Stewart Island--Akaroa--Return
to Waimate--Difference with C.M.S.--Bonds of fellowship--Ordinations--
Synod--Bishop leaves Waimate.
CHAPTER X.
CONFLICT AND TROUBLE (1845-1850).
Settlement in Auckland--College founded at Tamaki--Continued
disagreement with C.M.S.--Heke's rebellion--His tactics--Burning of
Kororareka--Charge against Henry Williams--Ohaeawai--Governor Grey--
The Bats' Nest--"Blood and Treasure Despatch"--"Substantiation or
Retractation"--Bishop joins Governor--His motives--Dismissal of Henry
Williams by C.M.S.--Removal to Pakaraka--Subsequent history of Bay of
Islands.
CHAPTER XI.
SACRIFICE AND HEALING (1850-1856).
Selwyn visits Chatham Islands--Melanesia--Progress at Otaki and
Wanganui--Troubles--Epidemic at St. John's--Failure of communistic
system--Lutherans at Chatham Island--Porirua--Effect of H. Williams'
dismissal--Journey of W. Williams to England--Improvement of relations
between bishop and missionaries--Arrival of Rev. C. J. Abraham--Of
Canterbury colonists--Ideals of Canterbury Association--Godley
captured by Selwyn--Disagreement between them and the Association--
Bishop wins affections of colonists--Break-up of Maori side of St.
John's College--Visit of Bishop to England--Concordat between him and
the C.M.S.--Return to New Zealand--Election of Rev. H. J. C. Harper to
Christchurch--Arrival and installation of Bishop Harper.
CHAPTER XII.
ORGANISATION AND PROGRESS (1850-1859).
Difficulty of creating ecclesiastical government in the colonies--
Governor Grey drafts constitution--Its favourable reception--Discussed
by Australian bishops--The Royal Supremacy--Godley's advocacy of
freedom--Meetings to discuss constitution--C.M.S. opposition disarmed
--"Voluntary compact"--Taurarua Conference--Struggle over
ecclesiastical franchise--Promulgation of Constitution--Legal
recognition--The new bishoprics--Wellington, Nelson, Waiapu--
Completion of organisation of Church.
CHAPTER XIII.
TROUBLE AND ANGUISH (1859-62).
Sudden darkness--Working of constitution--Paucity of Maori clergy--
Inadequacy of mission Staff--Tamihana Te Waharoa--His ideals--The king
movement--Suspicion of its loyalty--Governor Gore-Browne precipitates
war in Taranaki--Sympathy of "king" natives--Growth of king movement--
Good order of its rule--Defeat of Taranaki natives--Truce--Attempt at
justice to Maoris--General Synod at Nelson--Discontent of Canterbury
churchmen.
CHAPTER XIV.
RUIN AND DESOLATION (1862-1868).
Position in 1862--Meeting at Peria--Position of Waikato Maoris--Grey
brings on another war--Rangiaohia--Defeat of "king" forces--Henare
Taratoa--His rules--Heroic action--Death--Devastation by British
forces--Hauhauism--Wiremu Hipango--Hauhaus at Opotiki--Murder of Rev.
C. S. Volkner--A night of horror--The trial--Bishop Patteson's
memorial sermon--Selwyn starts to the rescue of Rev. T. Grace--
Critical situation of Bishop Williams--Rescue of Grace--Removal of
Bishop Williams--The third General Synod--Death of Tamihana--And of
Henry Williams--Journey of Bishop Selwyn to England--Offer of
Lichfield bishopric--Refusal--Acceptance--Tribute to his character
and work.
THIRD PERIOD.
CHAPTER XV.
AFTER THE WAR. THE MAORIS.
Changes produced by war and immigration--Separateness of Maori and
pakeha--Maoris and Sir George Grey--Siege of Waerenga-a-hika--
S. Williams at Te Aute--Return of Bishop Williams--Reconstitution of
diocese of Waiapu--Te Kooti at Chatham Island--His prayers--Poverty
Bay massacre--Ringa-tu--Depressed state of Maori Christianity--Present
condition of Maoris.
CHAPTER XVI.
AFTER THE WAR. THE COLONISTS (1868-1878).
Troubles in the colonial Church--Dunedin--Nomination of the Rev. H. L.
Jenner--Opposition to his appointment--His rejection by General Synod
--And by the Synod of Dunedin--Illness of Bishop Patteson--His last
voyage--His death--Weakness in the dioceses--Education Act of 1877--
Episcopal changes.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE CHURCH OF TO-DAY (1878-1914).
The Blue Gum period--The Pine period--The Macrocarpa period--Recovery
--New churches--Bishop Harper's resignation--Disputed election--Bishop
Hadfield, primate--Labour movement--Retirement of bishops--Fresh
episcopal appointments--The General Mission of 1910.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CHURCH AT WORK.
Doctrine and discipline--Worship--Hymns--Clergy--Theological colleges
--Parish priests of the past--Church buildings--ADMINISTRATION--Legal
position of priests and people--The General Synod--Patronage--Finance
--EDUCATION--Grammar schools--Primary education--Bible-in-schools
movement--Sunday-schools--CHARITABLE RELIEF--MISSIONARY EFFORTS--Maori
Mission--Melanesian Mission--the Church Missionary Association--
Conclusion.
MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. Portrait of Samuel Marsden Frontispiece
2. Map of North Island, showing Missionary Routes Facing page 16
3. View of Paihia " " 32
4. Henry Williams at the Treaty of Waitangi " " 48
5. Portrait of Bishop Selwyn " " 64
6. Ruins of St. Thomas', Tamaki " " 80
7. Old Church at Russell " " 88
8. Nelson Cathedral " " 96
9. A Village Church, Stoke, near Nelson " " 112
10. St. Matthew's Church, Auckland " " 128
11. St. Matthew's Church, Dunedin " " 144
12. Canterbury Churches " " 160
13. Map of the Bay of Islands " " 168
14. St. John's Cathedral, Napier " " 176
15. All Saints' Church, Palmerston North " " 192
16. St. John's, Invercargill " " 200
17. St. Luke's, Oamaru " " 208
18. Wanganui School Chapel " " 224
19. Baptistery of St. Matthew's, Auckland " " 232
20. New Zealand Bishops " " 240
INTRODUCTION.
Beginning from Jerusalem.
--_Acts._
A commercial message of trifling import may now be flashed in a few
minutes from Jerusalem to the Antipodes: the message of Christ's love
took nearly eighteen centuries to make the journey. For a time, indeed,
the advance was direct and swift, for before the third century after
Christ a Church had established itself in South India. But there the
missionary impulse failed. Had the first rate of progress been
maintained, the message would have reached our shores a whole millennium
before it actually arrived.
But what would have been then its form and content? Had it made its way
from island to island, passing through the minds of Malay, Papuan, or
Melanesian on its passage, how much of its original purity would have
been preserved? And who would have been here to receive it? Possibly,
only the moa and the apteryx. Who knows?
These considerations enable us to look with less regret upon the check
which the Christian message received after its first rapid advance. The
rise of Mohammedanism in the sixth century drove the faith of Christ
from Asia and from Africa, but it kept it "white." It threw a barrier
across the old road which led from Jerusalem to the Antipodes, but the
barrier enabled preparation to be made on either side for a grander and
more fruitful intercourse. On the south of the Islamic empire the
migrations of the peoples brought to our islands the Maori race, who
made them their permanent home. On the north, the Christian faith took
firm hold of the maritime nations of Europe, from whom the missionaries
of the future were to spring.
The capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1452 may be taken as the
turning point. It closed more firmly than ever the land-route to the
south, but the libraries of this great city, in which was preserved
nearly all that remained of ancient learning, were scattered by the
captors, and their contents carried far and wide. New Testament
manuscripts awakened fresh study in the western world, and led to a
cleansing and quickening of religion; narratives of old Greek explorers
made men impatient of the barrier which blocked them from the lands
which the ancients had known, and thus drove them to seek new routes by
sea.
Marvellous was the energy which now awoke. By 1492 Columbus had crossed
the Atlantic, and Vasco da Gama, having rounded the African continent,
had reached India by an ocean road which had nothing to fear from the
Mussulman power.
Two routes, in fact, had now been opened, for not only did the
Portuguese follow up da Gama's discoveries in the Indian Ocean, but the
Spaniards from the American side soon entered the Pacific. But neither
of these nations quite reached our distant islands. Their ships were
swept from the sea in the seventeenth century by the Dutch, whose
eastern capital was Batavia. From this port there started in 1642 a
small expedition of two ships under the command of Abel Tasman. Heading
his journal with the words, "May the Almighty God give His blessing to
this voyage," the courageous Hollander went forth, and, sailing round
the Australian continent, struck boldly across the sea which now bears
his name. On December 16th the mountainous coast of our South Island
rose before him, and what we may now call New Zealand was seen by
European eyes. The ferocity of the inhabitants prevented the explorer
from landing on its shores, but his expedition spent some weeks along
the coast. His austere Calvinism prevented Tasman from observing in any
special manner the festival of Christmas, but as a Rhinelander he could
not forget the "Three Kings of Cologne," whom legend had associated with
the Magi of the Gospels. On Twelfth Night his ships were abreast of the
small island which lies at the extreme north of the country, and "this
island," wrote Tasman, "we named Drie Koningen Eyland (i.e., Three Kings
Island), on account of this being the day of Epiphany."
Here then, at last, was a spot of New Zealand soil to which a name was
attached which told of something Christian. The name stood alone as yet,
but it contained a promise of the time when the Gentile tribes should
come to Christ's light, and their kings to the brightness of His rising.
For nearly a century and a half the startled Maoris treasured the memory
of the white-winged ships of the Hollander, before they saw any others
like them. At length, in 1769, there appeared the expedition of Captain
Cook. England had now wrested from the Dutch the sovereignty of the
seas, and Cook was looking for the "New Zealand" which appeared on the
Dutch maps, but which no living European had ever seen. More tactful and
more fortunate than his forerunner, Cook was able to open a
communication with the islanders and to conciliate their good-will.
Not yet, however, was England prepared to follow up the lead thus given.
Not until her defeat by the American colonists, which closed the "New
World" against her convicts, did Britain's statesmen bethink them of the
still newer world which had been made known by the explorer. In 1787 an
expedition went forth from England--not indeed to New Zealand, but--to
South-east Australia, where a penal colony was established at Port
Jackson. A strange and repulsive spectacle the enterprise presented, yet
these convict ships were the instruments for carrying on the message
which had been sent out from Jerusalem by apostolic bearers. "Did God
send an army of pious Christians to prepare His way in the wilderness?"
asked Samuel Marsden, the second chaplain of this colony. "Did He
establish a colony in New South Wales for the advancement of His glory
and the salvation of the heathen nations in those distant parts of the
globe by men of character and principle? On the contrary, He takes men
from the dregs of society, the sweepings of gaols, hulks, and prisons.
Men who had forfeited their lives to the laws of their country, He gives
them their lives for a prey, and sends them forth to make a way for His
chosen, for them that should bring glad tidings of good things. How
unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"
Advance and retreat; check and recovery; failure of methods which seemed
direct and divine; compensating success through agencies that looked
hostile; the winds of the Spirit blowing where they list--none able to
tell beforehand whence they are coming or whither they will go: such are
the outstanding features of the long journey of the Christian faith
across the globe; such will be found to mark its history when
established in this land.
First Period.
CHAPTER I.
THE PREPARATION.
(1805-1813).
Every noble work is at first "impossible." In very truth: for every
noble work the possibilities will lie diffused through immensity,
inarticulate, undiscoverable except to faith.
--_Carlyle._
For the seed-plot of Christianity and of civilisation in New Zealand we
must look away from the present centres of population to the beautiful
harbours which cluster round the extreme north of the country. Chief
among these stands the Bay of Islands. This noble sheet of water, with
its hundred islands, its far-reaching inlets, its wooded coves and
sheltered beaches, was for more than a quarter of a century the focus of
whatever intellectual or spiritual light New Zealand enjoyed. Here the
Gospel of Christ was first proclaimed, and the first Mission stations
were established. Here were founded the first schools, the first
printing press, the first theological college, the first library. Here
the first bishop fixed his headquarters, and here he convened the first
synod. Here was signed the Treaty of Waitangi, by which the islands
passed under British rule, and here was the temporary capital of the
first governor. Here, too, was the theatre of the first war between
Maoris and white men; here stood the flagstaff which Heke cut down; from
these hills on the west the missionaries beheld the burning of
Kororareka, whose smoke went up "like the smoke of a furnace."
At the opening of the nineteenth century this important locality was
occupied by the warlike and enterprising tribe of the Ngapuhi. The soil
was generally infertile, but the waters teemed with fish, while the
high clay cliffs and the narrow promontories lent themselves readily to
the Maori system of fortification. The safe anchorage which the Bay
afforded early drew to it the whaling ships of Europe, especially as the
harbour was accessible from the ocean in all weathers. The Ngapuhi
eagerly welcomed these new comers, and prepared to take full advantage
of whatever benefits the outside world might offer.
Among the various _hapus_ of this tribe stands out pre-eminent that
which owed allegiance to the chief Te Pahi. This warrior had fortified
an island close to Te Puna on the north side of the bay. In readiness to
receive new ideas, and in the power to assimilate them, he and his
kinsmen, Ruatara and Hongi, were striking examples of the height to
which the Maori race could attain. Hardly had the century dawned which
was to bring New Zealand within the circle of the Christian world, when
word came to Te Pahi of the wonders to be seen at Norfolk Island, and of
the friendly nature of its governor, Captain King. To test for himself
the truth of these tidings, the chief, with his four sons, set forth
(about 1803) across the sea to the great convict station. The friendly
governor had left the island, but Te Pahi followed him on to New South
Wales, little thinking of the mighty consequences which would result
from his journey. Everyone at Port Jackson was struck with the handsome
presence and dignified manners of the New Zealander. He was received by
the governor into his house at Parramatta; he went regularly to church,
where he behaved "with great decorum;" and loved nothing so much as to
talk to the chaplain about the white man's God. His enquiries met with
ready sympathy, for the chaplain was no other than the Reverend Samuel
Marsden.
This remarkable man had hitherto found little to encourage him in his
labours, but his light shone all the more brightly from its contrast
with the surrounding darkness. Selected while still a student at
Cambridge, by no less a person than the philanthropist Wilberforce, for
this difficult position, Marsden had brought to his work a heart full of
evangelical fervour, a strong Yorkshire brain, and "the clearest head in
Australia." During the eleven years which had passed since his arrival,
he had been fighting a courageous fight against vice in high places and
in low, but nothing had daunted his spirit nor soured his temper. His
large heart had a place for all classes and for all races. When he met
Te Pahi his sympathies were at once excited. Like Gregory in the
marketplace at Rome, he had found a people who must be brought into the
fold of Christ. Years were indeed to pass before active steps could be
taken, but the new-born project never died within him. Amidst all the
difficulties of his lot the thought of the New Zealanders was ever in
his mind, and their evangelisation the constant subject of his prayers.
Many years afterwards, on one of his journeys through their country,
Marsden remarked to those about him, "Te Pahi just planted the acorn,
but died before the sturdy oak appeared above the surface of the
ground."
What this Maori pioneer had done may seem little enough, but that little
cost him his life. The presents which he carried home, and the house
built for him by Governor King upon his island, excited the envy of his
neighbours, who eventually found a way to compass his destruction by
means of the Europeans themselves. Te Pahi happened to be at Whangaroa
when the _Boyd_ was captured in 1809, and he did his best to save some
of the crew from the terrible slaughter that followed. But his presence
at the scene was enough to give a handle to his enemies. They accused
him to the whalers of participation in the outrage, and these stormed
the island _pa_ by night and slaughtered the unsuspecting inhabitants.
Te Pahi himself escaped with a wound, but he was soon afterwards killed
by the real authors of the _Boyd_ massacre for his known sympathy with
the Europeans.
It is a piteous story, and one that reflects only too faithfully the
temper of the times. Hardly less piteous is the history of his young
kinsman, Ruatara, the inheritor of his influence over the tribe. This
notable man, while still young, determined that he too would see the
world, and in the year 1805 engaged himself as a common sailor on board
a whaling vessel. The roving life suited his adventurous temperament,
and in spite of many hardships and much foul play he served in one ship
after another. His duties carried him more than once to Port Jackson,
where he, too, met Samuel Marsden and talked about the projected mission
to his race. After many vicissitudes he at length nearly attained the
object of his desire, for his ship reached the Thames and cast anchor
below London Bridge. Now he would see the king, and would learn the
secret of England's power.
But the London of those days was a cruel place. There were no kindly
chaplains, no sailors' institutes nor waterside missions for the care of
those who thronged its waterways. There was little care for the poor
anywhere, and little religion among employers or employed. The close of
the eighteenth century was indeed the low-water mark of English religion
and morality. But by 1809--the year of Ruatara's arrival--an improvement
had begun. What is known as the Evangelical movement was changing the
tone of life and thought. The excesses of the French Revolution had led
to a reaction among the upper classes and made them think more
seriously. This revival did not at once lead to much thought for the
poor at home; it reached out rather towards the heathen abroad. The
"Romantic" school was in the ascendant, and a black skin under a
palm-tree formed a picture which appealed to the awakened conscience.
Much of the fervour of the time had its being outside the historic
Church of England, but in the last year of the old century a few earnest
clergy and laity--without much encouragement from the bishops or others
in high places--had formed what was afterwards known as "The Church
Missionary Society." This Society had the New Zealanders under its
consideration at the very time when Ruatara was being starved and beaten
in the docks of London itself.
What had drawn its attention to a place so distant? It was the presence
of Marsden in England. He had come thither in 1807 on business of grave
and various import. The Government of the day had recognised the value
of his practical knowledge, and had sought his advice on many matters
concerning the welfare of Australia. But he did not forget New Zealand,
and it was to the young Church Missionary Society that he betook
himself. So great, in fact, and so various were the plans which Marsden
entertained for the welfare of the many races in which he was
interested, that the grandiloquent words of his biographer seem not too
strong: "As the obscure chaplain from Botany Bay paced the Strand, from
the Colonial Office at Whitehall to the chambers in the city where a few
pious men were laying plans for Christian missions in the southern
hemisphere, he was in fact charged with projects upon which not only the
civilisation, but the eternal welfare, of future nations were
suspended."
Marsden's proposals were the outcome of his own original mind. He
appealed for a mission to the Maoris, but he wished it to be an
industrial mission. He proposed that artisans should be sent out who
should prepare the way for ordained clergy. A carpenter, a smith, and a
twine-spinner should form the missionary staff. They must be men of
sound piety and lively interest in the spiritual welfare of the heathen;
but their religious lessons should be given whilst they were instructing
the Maoris in the building of a house, the forging of a bolt, or the
spinning of their native flax.
Such a scheme was only half relished by the Committee of the Society.
These excellent men had hardly yet realised that the dark-skinned
savage was a real human being. They had begun by picturing the whole
population of a heathen island as rushing gladly to meet the missionary,
receiving his message with unquestioning belief, and crying out in an
agony of terror, "What must we do to be saved?" Now that apparent
failure had met their efforts in different parts of the world, they were
inclined to go to the opposite extreme and to despair of the heathen
ever accepting Christianity at all. Marsden's unromantic proposals
jarred upon their old ideas, but in their perplexity they could not help
feeling that at least here was a man who had had experience of real, not
of imaginary, heathen; a man who did not despair, and who had a definite
and carefully prepared plan. Gradually they yielded to his influence,
and, especially as clerical missionaries were not to be found, they
agreed to seek for the artisans.
Even these were hard enough to find. There were as yet no colleges for
the training of young aspirants; outside the newly-formed societies
there was little interest in the welfare of heathen people; the best
that could be done was to seek for men who had the love of God and men
in their hearts, and should seem to possess the qualities of patience,
perseverance, and tact. Through the good offices of friendly clergy two
young men were found. From distant Carlisle came the carpenter, William
Hall; the Midlands supplied a shoemaker, John King. These were given
further technical training--Hall in shipbuilding, King in rope-making.
By the month of August, 1809, they were ready for their enterprise.
Their earthly prospects were not tempting. They were to receive L20 each
per annum until they should be able to grow corn enough for their own
support. To meet this and all other expenses the Committee advanced
Marsden the sum of L100. With this small sum and his two plain and
poorly paid mechanics, this undaunted man started out from his native
land to undertake the evangelisation of a country as large as England
itself.
But a mightier coadjutor was at hand. Many prayers were offered as the
_Ann_ was about to sail, and it must surely have been in answer to these
that, when the vessel with her freight of convicts had already reached
Gravesend, there appeared a boat in which were a half-naked Maori
together with a seafaring Englishman. These were Ruatara and his
employer who had robbed him of his wages and had now no further use for
him. "Will you take him back to Australia?" said the heartless master.
"Not unless you find him some clothes," said the captain of the _Ann_.
The clothes were procured, and the Maori was allowed to go below. There
he lay sick in body and mind. He had tried to play the part of the
Russian Peter, but he was bringing back nothing for the benefit of his
country. What was left but to die?
When the ship reached Portsmouth, Marsden came on board, and on August
25th she finally started on her six months' voyage. Not for some days
did the chaplain know of the Maori's presence, but, as the ship entered
warmer latitudes, Marsden observed on the forecastle among the sailors a
man whose dark skin and forlorn condition appealed strongly to his
sympathy. Ruatara was wrapped in an old great coat, racked with a
violent cough, and was bleeding from the lungs. Though young, he seemed
to have but a few days to live. Marsden at once went to him and found in
the miserable stranger the nephew of his old acquaintance Te Pahi.
Kindness and attention soon had their effect; the health of the invalid
rapidly improved; the remembrance of past injuries melted away before
the sunshine of Christian love; and, before the ship reached Australia,
Ruatara was once again a man, and now almost a Christian.
This meeting was momentous in its results. "Mr. Marsden and Ruatara," as
Carleton says, "were each necessary to the other; each furnished means
without which the labour of his associate must have been thrown away.
But for the determined support which Ruatara as a high chief was able
to afford, Marsden could never have gained a footing in the land; and
without the sustained labour of the civilised European, the work of the
Maori innovator, too much in advance of its time, would have withered
like Jonah's gourd, and have come to an end with the premature decease
of Ruatara."
For a few days after the arrival of the _Ann_ at Port Jackson, it seemed
as though Marsden's project were going to be helped by another
unexpected agency. The Sydney merchants had resolved to form a trading
settlement in New Zealand; the settlers were chosen, and the ship was
ready to sail. But at the last moment news came from the land of their
destination of an event already referred to--news which for many a long
day checked every thought of adventure thither, and had the effect of
throwing New Zealand back into its old position of isolation and
aloofness. The ship _Boyd_, which had sailed from Sydney not many months
previously, had been surprised by the Maoris in the harbour of
Whangaroa, and with four exceptions all its white crew, to the number of
about 70 persons, had been killed and cooked and eaten.
The report of this awful tragedy--the most horrible that has ever been
enacted on our shores, at least with white folk for the victims--threw
the people of New South Wales into a fever heat of indignation. This
condition was further intensified when the intelligence arrived that
among the murderers had been seen the "worthy and respectable" Te Pahi,
who had been an honoured guest at the Governor's table. No Maori dared
now to be seen in the streets of Sydney, and it required all Marsden's
influence to protect Ruatara, who was known to be Te Pahi's relative.
His protector kept him for six months quietly working with a few other
Maoris on his farm at Parramatta, and the expedition to New Zealand was
for the time abandoned.
This sudden interruption of his favourite project was a severe trial to
Marsden's hopeful temperament. But he never lost heart. "We have not
heard the natives' side of the case," he said. As for Te Pahi, he
refused, and rightly refused, to believe in his guilt. When the passion
for vengeance had somewhat calmed, he found opportunity to ship Ruatara
and some other Maoris on board a whaling craft which was on her way to
fish on the New Zealand shores, and he gave them seed wheat and
agricultural tools.
Even now Ruatara's adventures were not ended. In the following year he
was again at Port Jackson with another tale of woe. He had never reached
his home, though he had actually been within sight of it. Instead of
being allowed to land there, he had been carried away by the
unprincipled captain, robbed again of his wages, and then marooned on
Norfolk Island. Again he found a friend in Marsden. Once more he was
despatched to the Bay of Islands with wheat and hoes and spades. This
time he arrived safely, and Marsden had the satisfaction of feeling that
however long the time of waiting might still be, there was a quiet but
effective influence at work in New Zealand on behalf of himself and of
the message which he still hoped to proclaim.
At any time, in fact, during those years of suspense, Marsden was
willing to venture forth among the cannibals, but he was forbidden by
Governor Macquarie. That all-powerful functionary was determined that
such a valuable life should not be thrown away on what appeared to be a
quixotic scheme. But the chaplain was not to be altogether balked. He
received into his parsonage whatever Maoris of good standing he could
find; showed them the varied activities of his model farm; and explained
to them the principles of the laws which he was called to administer
from the magisterial bench. In this way several young chiefs acquired a
knowledge of the elements of civilisation, and were disposed to welcome
Christianity.
But it was not only upon his Maori visitors that Marsden's influence was
at work. The two artisans whom he kept near himself must have learned
during these years that absolute loyalty upon which so much was to
depend thereafter. They laboured diligently at their trades, and each
was soon earning as much as L400 a year; but the zeal and unselfishness
of the chaplain kept them true to their original purpose, and prevented
them from yielding to the fascinations of Mammon.
Thus the years passed--not uselessly nor unhopefully. One bit of
intelligence seemed like an augury of good for the future: Ruatara's
wheat had been sown and was growing well!
[Illustration: THE NORTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND.]